The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim review (PS3)

This game I have been wanting to play for a long time.... and unfortunately it won't let me

When Todd Howard came out on stage at the VGA's last year the nerd's of the world had their hearts skip a beat when The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was announced. We were teased with 15 minute gameplay demos, small morsels of information gathered in both formal and informal manners. But Skyrim is here and it is a fantastic game... the problem is that Bethesda has repeated the same mistake that they have been known for this console generation.

When starting out Skyrim Elder Scrolls fans know what to expect, you are on your way to your own execution and are then presented with a character creation screen. The character creation system is so vast with multiple races from Khajiit's to Dark Elves. I decided to play as a Dark Elf, hoping to develop my skills by raising my majicka and learning new shouts. I wanted to join the Dark Brotherhood, harass the towns people, become a werewolf. I wanted to marry a girl local to Whiterun and then settle down once I defeated Alduin: The world eating dragon. That is what I love about Skyrim. I had the power to carve my own path, to create my own narrative. It's something Bethesda has truly shown that they have mastered this art of creating games in which the player can truly make their own tale.

The gameplay in Skyrim depends on how you want to play. Do you want to be an archer, taking out enemies from a distance? You can do it. Do you want to be the soldier type, rushing in with two swords... hacking and slashing your way to victory? You can do it. Do you want to be a stealthy Khajiit assassin? You can do it. The gameplay variation is almost endless in Skyrim. However, the great thing is that you are not bound by choices that you make like in other RPG's. Did you get tired of shooting spells from your hands? You can swap out and become a brute. Skyrim is a game with no restriction's in player choice. This game was designed for you, and you decide how the game goes.

But I still have not even talked about what else makes Skyrim so great, the music that ramps up during every encounter. The intense battles with dragons that are filled with tension and excitement. I still have not fully talked about everything this game has to offer, as I can not as I feel that it is a task to impossible to accomplish as there is so much content.

That is why it is so hard to review a game like Skyrim, as you feel like you can't review the game until you hit that 100% complete, in fear that you are missing something out. I have spent approximately 80 hours playing Skyrim, and I know what many are thinking while reading this review. HOW CAN YOU REVIEW THIS GAME WITH SUCH LITTLE PLAY TIME? Well the truth is Skyrim won't let me play it anymore.

This is because I decided to buy Skyrim on the PS3. And this is where Bethesda has ruined this game. Many people may have heard of the 6mb save problem players on the ps3 are having. I am one of those people afflicted by this problem. My experience with Skyrim is no longer as incredible as the moment I put that disk in the slot. Now it is a jagged, slow, irritating version of its former self. I believed an editor at Gamesradar said it best "Watch the Skyrim gameplay trailer and pause every two seconds for an accurate representation of Skyrim on PS3" The framerate has dropped so much, that I honestly can not play this game anymore. This really makes me wonder why Bethesda struggles so much when making games for PS3. Fallout 3, New Vegas, and in some cases Oblivion have all had this trouble as the PS3 versions are filled with bugs and problems, that make the game virtually unplayable. And this sucks to as I was waiting for a long time for this game, excited for it to release, but I am saddened that Bethesda has made this same mistake. I though that things would have changed, but I was wrong. This is honestly my saddest experience in gaming as Skyrim on PS3 is incredibly broken and we honestly have no clue if Bethesda is going to fix this problem on the PS3 or not. We know that a patch is incoming on Thanksgiving time in America, but will it fix the gameplay problems Skyrim has?

Skyrim is an incredible game, no one should think otherwise, but Bethesda needs to stop making PS3 gamers feel like they got bent over. I would not have minded waiting for Skyrim, If Bethesda did a similar move like Bioware did for Mass Effect 2 and properly make the game run for all consoles equally. But they did not. If you are planning on buying Skyrim, I strongly recommend you buy it for the PC or 360.

Bethesda, your games are amazing, but please you have to start showing some equality towards all gamers, in order for one side to not feel like they were cheated out of a fantastic game. In the meantime, Skyrim sits on my shelf, waiting for one day for Bethesda to fix this problem on the PS3. Im even considering selling it back in order to get a PC copy of the game. This is truly one of the saddest moments in gaming history

Ups

The world of Skyrim is vast- You can always find new things to see

Sound is incredible from the sounds of wandering Skyrim to the music when you engage in battle

You can play the way you want to play

Downs

Some glitches... Flying Mammoths FTW

Bethesda has repeated the curse of bad PS3 ports

Score

9.5

Graphics
Skyrim is beautiful from the rigid mountain scapes to the feilds. Some strange visual glitches do occur occasionally and may sometimes ruin the immersion

9.8

Sound
Skyrim's music truly captures that epic vibe, heightening the tensity of battle

10.0

Gameplay
There are so many ways to play Skyrim, it truly is an amazing feat. I assure you that no two players will have the same experience

9.5

Fun factor
Skyrim is ridiculously addictive. You will be completing quests by the dozens as more and more fill up. You could play this game forever

on ps3, this dam game needs to be recalled. there is no excuse for it to be so bad with glitches. i refuse to belive that when this game was shipped no one at bethesda saw the problems. bs i got my money back dude, hope you can get urs to.

I agree man. I'm about 70hrs. in on Skyrim PS3, and I can't play it anymore :(

the Fps is horrible even when I'm just doing nothing .So when I fight any type of enemy or walk into a town in Skyrim the game is unplayable because of how the game pretty much stops because of how low the Fps goes.

I wish this game would get patched!! The game is sooo awesome, but the bugs ruin it. I guess its back to MGS HD collection,Saints row 3 and some BF3 till Skyrim gets patched..

Good choice to score it like this. I have exactly the same problem with Battlefield 3: great game for me but mic bug is a total game breaker as I can't talk to my squad. I've stopped playing it until they fix it (if they fix it). That means wasted money, that means I was deceived. That actually means they broke law selling me a faulty game. If you buy a broken TV, you go and return it. Why not games? We need to start voicing our customer concerns to game companies. If you can't make a game for a platform, don't. Or hire more skilled people. Or betatesters. Or whatever. I don't care because it's you, devs, who gets the money. If you promise but won't deliver, I'll call you cheaters and thieves until you stop.

That is unbelievable. I knew the ps3 version was bad but that lag is painful to watch. Now I know why you gave it such a low score. I came in here ready to defend this masterpiece but I play on the 360. Always ALWAYS buy multiplats on a 360.

I'm not complaining about the overall score, it's always nice to see someone take a reasonable view to scoring a game.

However....if the game ends up running as badly as you say (I play the PC version and its fine) then wouldn't you lower the score for gameplay and fun factor at the end of your review.

Giving them 10 and 9.5 along with the glowing description gives the view that the game is fine and leaves you with a sharp kick to the balls when you see the 5/10.

I understand that you encountered many problems later on but a review should take an 'average' of the whole experience, if you know what I mean. The first half of Enslaved last year was amazing but the second half was crap, so overall it was a mixed game to me.

Good review though and good to see some people will hold glitches and such against developers :)

The reason I did not lower the fun factor, etc, etc is because Skyrim is a fantastic game, but it has annoying bugs and problems. If the frame rate drops were not there, the game would be a 9.5 to 10. However, this problem is only encountered on PS3.

Also I may have exaggerated some of the independant scores, as the fun factor drops during broken quests. I failed the main quest and had to start a new game because I accidently pickpocketed Haldor at the beginning and then his uncle attacked me, and I had to kill him. But Haldor has infinite health and could never die. Broken quests are also very annoying. Thinking on it now I should have added those points to, but Skyrim is a good game.

Just ridiculously broken...

Im still wondering how it has a 95-96 on metacritic even though these problems are present.

I'm having a great time with it. You shouldn't base the game on just the ps3 version. Sure, it would be a large factor (if it is buggy. I don't know) but it still is a fun (but slow w/o a horse) game.

The comments on that vid state some possible solutions. But very odd indeed. I haven't run into that bug (I didn't get very far with the game).

I guess I have no authority to tell you how to rate the game (I only just started the game). Well, I hope you don;t trade it in and maybe you should just wait for a patch or too. I heard Bethesda games are a glitchy-mess all the time but everyone has a great time and (i think) they get patched eventually. Eventually.